People are generally not comfortable purchasing intangible products, such as digital content or digital rights unless the purchase is accompanied by a physical object. As a result, many people prefer to buy packaged computer software. Nowadays, prepaid cards are used to transfer data, such as digital content and digital rights to electronic devices. Examples of such data include, but are not limited to, an authorization code, a song or a video.
A known method utilized for the transfer of data using prepaid cards involves manual transfer of data. Manual transfer involves scratching a prepaid card to reveal a code. The code can then be entered by means of a keypad of an electronic device. In the case of purchasing mobile telephone air-time, this is followed by an over-the-air transfer, and a confirmation notification to the end user of successful transfer of the data. Although accurate, a manual transfer of data from the prepaid card to the electronic device, especially entering the prepaid code in the electronic device by using the keypad, is a cumbersome process.
Another known method for transferring data to an electronic device is by using a radio frequency identification (RF ID) tag within a prepaid card. An RF ID reader in the electronic device is used to scan the RF ID tag in the prepaid card to automatically transfer the data to the electronic device. One problem with the implementation of this method is that since an RF ID tag can be remotely detected, the possibility of theft of data increases, since it can be remotely accessed without purchasing and using a prepaid card.
Skilled artisans will appreciate that elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and clarity and have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements in the figures may be exaggerated relative to other elements to help to improve understanding of embodiments of the present invention.